Day 3 - Keyboards and IMDB

Today I have been mostly playing with Keyboards! Odd you may think but a good keyboard is essential to the user experience. I also feel the need to tell everyone about the great little app from IMDB which has some really nice features for film and TV buffs.

Keyboards

When Samsung made the Galaxy Tab 10.1 they had the choice of inventing their own keyboard or to continue to use the standard Android 3.1 provided. Samsung seem to have decided that the consumer should have a choice straight out of the box (which is novel, particularly if you have owned an Apple product). In fact they are so in favour of giving the user a choice they have included 3! The default is of course Samsung's own effort which I actually find very good particularly when using the web browser as buttons are provided for automatically puting in the www. and the .com. 

Samsung Keyboard

They also provide a smiley button, as you can see, and then under the numbering option there is another 3 pages of symbols and smiley faces. In the settings menus you can change it so that a double space bar will give you a full stop or if you prefer it to be more like a mobile phone you can turn on the XT9 function as Samsung call it. This will then try and predict the word you are typing and allow you to select it as you would on any Android mobile phone. As this is a tablet and the keyboard keys are well spaced and easy to type quickly on, its not a feature I use.

Android Keyboard

The shot above is of the standard Android Honeycomb keyboard which you will be very familiar with if you have ever played with or own a Motorola Xoom. Again its a good keyboard to type on with the keys being well spaced but I don't use it simply because it doesn't have 1 or 2 of the extra buttons mentioned above which can make life a little easier and help you do things a bit quicker. At the end of the day it is of course personal preference and not much to choose between the 2 of them.

The final included keyboard is a bit different from the other 2 and is the Swype keyboard. With this keyboard the name of the game is to type without lifting your fingers.

Swype Keyboard

So as you would expect you just move your finger across the letters and the software will work out what word your trying to spell and then put it in for you. I would suspect if you spend the time getting use to "typing" in this way its probably much quicker, but its not typing its Swyping which to me seems quite alien even on a tablet with no real feedback from any keys. I feel that its probably better suited to a mobile phone sized screen. Still its nice to have the choice.

IMDB

If you have been following this blog for the last few days you may have had a look at the Optimised for Honeycomb thread over on Xoom Forums. Here one of the apps that are listed as having been Optimised for Honeycomb is from IMDB, everyone's favourite TV or film based argument settler.

IMDB Honeycomb App Interface

The interface as you can see is nice and clear and makes full use of the 10.1 inch screen. What I like about it is the useful options listed down the left hand side of the screen, including the top 250 films and interestingly enough the bottom 100 which is a nice touch. You can also use the Showtimes feature to find what's on at your local cinema although the current box office positions are based on what's happening in the US, which is a little annoying if like me your in the UK.

IMDB Coming Soon Screen

The coming soon screen is a feature I like as you can scroll through all the new releases of the coming months and then when you click on the thumbnail you will get the detail page telling you who the cast is and if there is a trailer available you will be able to watch it in full screen and HD. I found it had to do a bit of buffering but that's more to do with my poultry 2Mbps broadband than the app or the tablet.

IMDB Film Information Page

Above you can see the details for the excellent film, Transformers, and the options on the right hand side of the screen to give you more content relating to the title you have selected. 

The app also covers TV shows but disappointingly this seems to be only for those users based in the US even if you have bought a UK tablet. This will also give you the listings of what is on what channel but again its focus is the American viewing public. On the whole its a useful app to have on your tablet and will assist in solving arguments for many years to come.